The Caretaker
by Ava Miranda Dakedavra
Summary: Hermione refuses to get out of bed on the first snow of the year. Can Fred help in any way?


**For Janine - who is awesome in every way, shape, and form.**

* * *

She'd been piled up all morning. Harry had tried to come and get her up. Ron had tried, Ginny, Luna, Neville, Seamus, Bill, Charlie, Molly, Fleur, Arthur, Percy, everybody had tried. But she'd simply refused to let anybody pull her out of bed.

Nobody could figure out why. Why, Hermione Granger of all people, decided not to get out of bed on the first snow of the year. During Hogwarts, she'd loved to sit out in the snow and even had participated in snowball fights once or twice.

She'd buried herself under her comforter, curled up with the blankets tucked under her chin, staring blankly at whoever came in to attempt to get her to come out until she covered her head and ignored them.

George stepped out of the fire, dusting off his arms of soot and blinked when Harry and Ron were dragging him through the living room and towards the stairs, "Whoa, whoa, hold it, hold it! I just got back – how could I have done something?"

"She won't get out of bed," Harry grunted as he and Ron tugged George up, although he was still on the ground floor and putting on the brakes, wincing as his arms were being tugged on.

"We're – ugh – worried," Ron grabbed the banister for support as Fred appeared next to his twin and watched them curiously.

"Uhh – what're you doing?" he asked blankly.

Harry and Ron blinked at him and glanced at each other before promptly letting go of George, sending him screaming into the umbrella stand as they lurched for Fred and managed to get him up the first two steps.

"Oy, get off!" he growled.

"You have to get her up!" Ron yelled back.

"Who?" he yelled back.

"Hermione!" Harry said, making him blink at him and move up a step, "She won't get out of bed!"

"Everybody's been trying to get her up – she doesn't want to see anyone!" Ron continued.

"It's the first snow of the year and she won't even look out the window!" They stopped tugging on his arms, but held him in place, the three staring at each other. "Please, Fred, at least go talk to her."

He thought for a moment before nodding, taking his arms back and going up the staircase past them, knocking on the door as he poked his head in. She looked up at him blankly as he stepped in and shut the door behind him.

"Are you alright?" he asked, stepping closer to her and shoving his hands in his pockets.

She shook her head and winced, making him sit on the edge of the bed and look at her worriedly.

"What's wrong?" he questioned.

She pulled the blanket back and rubbed at her throat, the same action she'd done with the others and they hadn't understood, not even Molly. Fred blinked at her before reaching for her face, placing the back of one hand against her cheek and the other against her forehead.

"You're burning up," he winced before grinning a little, "Are you upset you're sick?"

She nodded, pulling the blanket back over her head, making him chuckle and pull it back to see that she was pouting. He leaned in and hugged her close to him, rubbing her back.

"Don't be, we'll have fun," he promised.

They'd spent the day up in Hermione's room, writing back and forth to one another, even though Fred could answer her out loud. He'd asked for advice on products for the store and they'd learned more about each other. Molly brought Hermione a potion to help her throat, apologizing for not figuring it out sooner, as the boys and Ginny had said they were sick differently (and loudly.) Hermione waved the apology away as she drank the potion, whimpering and coughing as it burned the bacteria away.

Halfway through the afternoon, while everyone else was running around outside in the snow, Hermione was in the kitchen laughing quietly with Fred.

"Honey and lemon taste good," she said quietly, her throat still sore.

"Uhh-huh, sure, in _tea_, I dunno about all alone," he said, chin on the counter as he watched her mix in lemon juice and honey, stirring it together and pinching his nose, making him gasp for air to give her an opportunity to shove the spoon in his mouth. He gagged for a second before pausing, humming his contentment as she smiled at him and got a new spoon to eat it with. "Okay, you're right. As usual."

She leaned into his side, the spoons hanging part ways out of their mouths. "Thank you for spending the day with me, Fred."

He pecked the top of her head, squeezing her into his side and burying his face into her hair, "Ohh, anything for you, Sweetheart. Good second date?"

"Yeah," she hummed with a smile. They were interrupted when their friends came tromping in, noses red and running but massive grins on their faces.

"Hey! It's the sickly bunch!" George cried out with a grin.

"Oh, hush," Fred waved him away, dipping his spoon into the mixture of honey and lemon juice, putting it back in his mouth.

"Whatever – you're missing out on some quality snow out there," Ginny told them, starting the burner for tea.

"Hey, we had fun," Fred defended with a frown, Hermione humming her agreement to make him grin.

"Whatever," Ron rolled his eyes.

* * *

"Hey, sickly bunch," Fred teased the group that was moaning and groaning in the living room, "You wanna go outside?"

"Bugger off, Fred," George glared at his twin as Hermione smirked at them by his side.

"Well, we're off to go catch that Quidditch game you all have been dying to go to for months," Hermione flashed a grin, "See you later!"

"Wait, Hermione!" Ginny cried out, "What'd you get that made you better?"

She blinked before grinning again, "Fred."

"Hah, that was sappy," he laughed as he led the way out of the door, making her shrug before he pecked her on the cheek.


End file.
